Pete Moye’
Arts Button

“I’ve been in this (music applied program) for almost six years, and it has helped me immensely. It helped me get closer with my teacher, and gain new ideas while working with her,” vocal performance major Charles Breidenthal said.

Breidenthal, like many other music related majors have seeked to join the Music Applied program to learn more about music and to better themselves as performers.

According to the Cerritos College webpage, “Applied Music (MUS 147) is a one unit course offering private music lessons in piano, organ, voice, electric and acoustic guitar, and all band and orchestral instruments. Music styles include both classical and jazz.”

To be eligible, you will need to have passed the intermediate class and audition for the specific music style you want to pursue.

“For those who want to take their vocal and instrument talents to another level, I would recommend it. The auditions are as scary as I thought. You just need to relax, play your instrument, and know how to read music notes,” Breidenthal said.

The program can take weeks for students, like music major George Arevalo, to learn a lesson or two so that they can apply it to their music and performance.

“I’ve only been here for a couple of months, and it has helped me in the fact that I learned about the theories of music. Even though I am a vocalist, I will need to know these theories down the line. People would never learn about these theories like in guitar unless they study about everything for a while, but the program helps me get a lot of the theories in a short time.”

Breidenthal, whom has been in the program for six years, has gained a lot from his time spent in the Music Applied program.

He said, “About three years ago, I randomly got stage fright when I was performing, but ever since I’ve got more in-depth in the (Music Applied) program. I’ve worked on the situation, and haven’t got stage fright since then.”